Sailor Moon Fighters

[Sanna Pospicil]

TheSailor Moon manga series features a cast of characters created by Naoko Takeuchi. The series takes place in Tokyo, Japan, where the Sailor Guardians (セーラー戦士, Sērā Senshi), a group of ten magical girls, are formed to fight against antagonists who aim to take over the Earth, the Solar System, and the Milky Way. Each Guardian undergoes a transformation which grants her a uniform in her own theme colors and an elemental power. They are named after the planets of the Solar System, with the exception of Earth but including its moon. While many characters are humans who possess superhuman strength and magical abilities, the cast also includes anthropomorphic animals and extraterrestrial lifeforms.

The series follows the adventures of the titular protagonist, Sailor Moon, her lover Tuxedo Mask, her cat advisor Luna, and her guardians and friends: Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. They are later joined by Chibiusa, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask's daughter from the future, and four more guardians: Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn. The series' antagonists include the Dark Kingdom, the Black Moon Clan, the Death Busters, the Dead Moon Circus, and Shadow Galactica.

Takeuchi's initial concept for the series was Codename: Sailor V, in which Sailor V discovers her magical powers and protects the people of Earth. After the Codename: Sailor V manga was proposed for an anime adaptation, Takeuchi changed her concept to include ten superheroines who defend the galaxy. The manga's anime, live-action, musical, and video game adaptations feature original characters the production staff created rather than Takeuchi.

Naoko Takeuchi initially wrote Codename: Sailor V, a one-shot manga that focused on Sailor Venus. When Toei Animation proposed it for an anime adaptation, Takeuchi changed the concept to include Sailor Venus as a part of a "sentai" (team of five) and created the characters of Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter.[1]

The name "Sailor Senshi" is derived from sailor fuku, a type of Japanese school uniform that the main characters' fighting uniforms are based on, and the Japanese word senshi, which can mean "soldier", "warrior", "guardian", or "fighter".[2] Takeuchi created the term by fusing English and Japanese words. DIC Entertainment/Cloverway's English adaptation of the anime changed it to "Sailor Scout" for most of its run. According to Takeuchi, only females can be Sailor Guardians.[1] In the anime's fifth season, the Sailor Starlights are depicted as men transforming into women when changing from their normal forms into Sailor Guardians, rather than women disguising as men as they appear in the manga.

Takeuchi wanted to create a series about girls in outer space, and her editor, Fumio Osano, suggested that she add the "sailor suit" motif to their uniforms.[3] Takeuchi settled on a more unified appearance in later stages of character design.[4] Among the protagonist Sailor Guardians, Sailor Venus, during her time as Sailor V, has the only outfit that varies significantly from the others. Sailor Moon, regardless of form, always has a more elaborate costume than others, and has individual power-ups more frequently than other characters. Sailor Guardians originating from outside the Solar System have different and varying outfits, but the sailor collar serves as a unifying trait in their designs.

Haruka Tenoh (天王 はるか, Ten'ō Haruka, called Amara Tenoh in the original English dub) is a good-natured tomboyish girl who is a year older than most of the other Sailor Guardians. She transforms into Sailor Uranus, the Guardian of Sky and Flight.[21] Before becoming a Sailor Guardian, she aspired to become a race car driver, and has excellent driving skills.[22] She tends to dress and, in the anime, speak like a man, with other characters often mistaking her for a man. When fighting the enemy, she distrusts outside help and prefers to work solely with her girlfriend, Sailor Neptune, and later Pluto and Saturn. Her talisman, the Space Sword, aids her fighting. Her theme color is navy.

Michiru Kaioh (海王 みちる, Kaiō Michiru, called Michelle Kaioh in the original English dub) is an elegant and talented violinist and painter. Similar to her partner and lover, Haruka Tenoh, she hails from a wealthy family, though they are not mentioned in the series. She transforms into Sailor Neptune, the Guardian of Ocean and Embrace.[21] She worked alone for some time before finding her partner, Sailor Uranus.[23] Neptune ultimately gave up her dreams and devoted herself to her duty as a Sailor Guardian, which she is willing to make sacrifices for. Her talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror, aids her intuition and reveals cloaked evil. Her theme color is teal.

The Hell Tree aliens (魔界樹エイリアン, Makai Ju Eirian, called the Doom Tree aliens in the original English dub) are a group who only appear in the anime, serving as the main antagonists of the first thirteen episodes of Sailor Moon R. Ail and An wandered space for many years before reaching Earth, where they collect energy to revive the Hell Tree so that it can give them energy to survive. Unlike other antagonists of the series, their mission was primarily that of survival, rather than conquest or destruction.

In Japanese, in the original series, they are voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa and Yumi Tōma respectively. In English, in the DIC English version they are voiced by Vince Corazza and Sabrina Grdevich respectively, and in the Viz Media English version they are voiced by Brian Beacock and Dorothy Elias-Fahn respectively.

The Hell Tree (魔界樹, Makai Ju, called the Doom Tree in the original English dub) is an alien tree that nourishes Ail and An. It lived alone on an island in a vast ocean on a faraway planet before creating life and giving energy to its many children. The children became greedy and fought each other until the planet was destroyed, with the tree and Ail and An as the only survivors. The tree became weak and required energy to stay alive, with Ail and An supplying it with human energy to revive it, which eventually stops working. The tree becomes angered and starts to injure those around it, killing An in the process. Sailor Moon uses her power to purify the Tree and resurrect An, who, along with Ail and a reborn tree in the form of a small sapling, leave Earth for a better life.

The Cardians (カーディアン, Kādian) are monsters of the week Ail and An use to obtain energy to revive the Hell Tree. They are kept in cards until Ail summons them by playing a tune on his flute, causing it to come alive. When a Cardian is destroyed, it changes back into its card form and the picture of it on the card turns black.

Luna, Artemis, and Diana are cats from the planet Mau, which is named after the Chinese word "貓", meaning "cat", who act as advisors to their owners. They are capable of speech and have a crescent moon symbol on their forehead, and can also assume a human form. The two older cats, Luna and Artemis, lived in the Moon Kingdom millennia before the events of the series and were advisors to Queen Serenity; the third, Diana, is much younger and was born on Earth. The cats serve as mentors and confidantes, as well as a source of information and new tools and items. Although Luna has the largest role of the three, Artemis was the first to appear and was also prominent in Codename: Sailor V.

In Act 55 of the manga, Sailor Tin Nyanko, a false Guardian from Mau, attacks them. Artemis calls it a peace-loving world, but Tin Nyanko informs him that Sailor Galaxia wiped out its people after he and Luna left. She blasts them on their crescent moon symbols and they turn into ordinary cats, unable to speak. Later, as they care for the cats, Princess Kakyuu informs Usagi that they have powerful Star Seeds which are as brilliant as Sailor Crystals. In Act 56, they are brought to the River Lethe and Sailor Lethe kills them, but are reincarnated at the end of the series along with everyone else.[note 1]

In Japanese, Artemis is voiced by Yasuhiro Takato in the first anime adaptation, by Yohei Oobayashi in the first three seasons of Crystal, and Taishi Murata in the Eternal and Cosmos films.[32] In the live-action series, he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi. He appears in the first Sailor Moon musical, played by a cat-suited Keiji Himeno. In English, he is voiced by Ron Rubin in the DIC/Cloverway English adaptation and by Johnny Yong Bosch in the Viz Media English adaptation.

In Japanese, Diana is voiced by Kumiko Nishihara in the first series and by Shoko Nakagawa in Crystal. In English, she is voiced by Loretta Jafelice in the Cloverway English adaptation, by Naomi Emmerson in Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie, and by Debi Derryberry in the Viz Media English adaptation.

In one of her reviews of Sailor Moon Crystal, IGN writer Meghan Sullivan admitted that the scene in which Diana tells Sailor Pluto to go and help Chibiusa and the Sailor Guardians while she guards the Door of Time and Space made her tear up, stating: "Here was this tiny cat - who by her own admission has no powers and is too small to fight, offering to help however she could. It's moments like these that remind me why I love Sailor Moon so much."[33]

The Sailor Starlights (セーラースターライツ, Sērā Sutāraitsu) are a group of Sailor Guardians composed of Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Maker, and Sailor Star Healer; in civilian form they go by the pseudonyms Kou Seiya, Kou Taiki, and Kou Yaten, respectively. They are from the planet Kinmoku (キンモク星, Kinmokusei), whose princess, Princess Kakyuu, left to escape Sailor Galaxia's assault and heal her wounds. They tracked Kakyuu to Earth and then Japan, where they disguised themselves as the male pop star group The Three Lights (スリーライツ, Surī Raitsu) and embedded their music with a telepathic broadcast to attract her attention. They attend Jūban High School along with Usagi and her friends. Eventually, while headed to the Galaxy Cauldron, Galaxia's henchwomen Sailor Chi and Sailor Phi kill them.

3a8082e126